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From: KENCB@SLACVM.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU
Newsgroups: comp.lang.fortran
Subject: Re: FORTRAN-4 question
Message-ID: <91102.234604KENCB@SLACVM.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU>
Date: 13 Apr 91 07:46:03 GMT
References: <9093.2802d2f5@jetson.uh.edu> <5217@goanna.cs.rmit.oz.au>
 <21132@lanl.gov>
Organization: Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
Lines: 33

In article <21132@lanl.gov>, jlg@cochiti.lanl.gov (Jim Giles) says:
>
>|> In article <9093.2802d2f5@jetson.uh.edu>, acsls@jetson.uh.edu (Eddie A.
>McCreary) writes:
>|> [...]
>|> > 2) CALL MOVE(FOO,BAR,&1270)
>|> >    ==================^
>|> >   What does the ampersand do??
>|>
>|> It says that 1270 is not a number, it is a statement label. [...]
>
>Ampersand is not even in the Fortran standard character set!  The
>Fortran character set consists of 26 letters, 10 digits, the blank,
>and the following: [=+-*/(),.$':].  (not counting the square brackets.)
>Fortran 90 uses the ampersand for statement continuation in the Free
>Form source syntax.


But the original poster *did* say this was Fortran 4, not Fortran 77.
And he *didn't* say the code was STANDARD, only that it ran on another
machine...  Lastly, the ampersand alternate-return syntax was used
in IBM's Fortran HX, an extended/enhanced Fortran 4 which only this past
year finally met its demise when IBM announced it would no longer support
the product.    BTW: while IBM's VS FORTRAN (77) does *not* support the &,
VAX Fortran does, no doubt in deference to the earlier IBM Fortran syntax :-)

                                 Ken

 Dr. Kenneth H. Fairfield        Internet: Fairfield@Tpc.Slac.Stanford.Edu
 SLAC, P.O.Box 4349, Bin 98      DECnet:   45047::FAIRFIELD (TPC::)
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